French Fridays with Dorie: Long and slow apples

I love apples but teeth I need to be careful of due to a recent root canal and an upcoming crown have prevented me from enjoying a fresh apple for many more months that I care to think about. So this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe (Long and Slow Apples, p 390) was a perfect recipe for me. The fact that I have been suffering with a nasty stomach bug since the day I got home from Burma was another reason I was happy for this recipe this week. A little bit of apple with some ginger and spices (and less butter than the recipe called for) was a nice treat for my poor unhappy tummy once I started eating more than rice again!

Dorie’s recipe is very simple – thin slices of apples brushed with butter and sprinkled with a mix of sugar, ground ginger and coriander with some orange zest in there too. You are supposed to layer the apple slices in small ramekins, cover the ramekins with both plastic wrap and then foil, and bake for a couple of hours. I was dubious about the plastic wrap (though Dorie says “don’t worry, the plastic wrap won’t melt”) so, Doubting Thomas that I am, made one with plastic and the rest with parchment over the top of the apples. The parchment was fine. The plastic? Well I don’t know where it went but it wasn’t on the ramekin when I brought it out of the oven after 90 minutes.

As I was writing this post, I now realise that Dorie does say to weigh the ramekins down to press the apples slightly while you are cooking them – a step I managed to ignore – so perhaps that was the reason the plastic on the one ramekin melted? Maybe the contact with the apples might mean that the plastic doesn’t melt. In any case, I don’t see the need to weigh them down – the apples were quite mushy when I took them out at 90 minutes – not sure they needed any more pressing? I’ll try it again for sure because the flavour of these was really good and I see in the LA Times (where the recipe appears – link below) that it can be a fabulously elegant dessert, not the rustic little ramekins I produced here 😉

In any case, plastic wrap dilemma aside, this was a dish that made the house smell gorgeous and I will remember it again for an easy dessert or breakfast (I ate mine this week with a tiny dollop of Greek yoghurt and a sprinkle of granola).

I’m sorry to hear that you caught a stomach bug from your trip. Hope you feel better soon Mardi. Long, slow baked apples sound wonderful and easy on the tummy. I don’t know what kind of plastic wrap Dori uses but yes, the ones we can get in Canada will definitely melt in the oven 🙂

I don’t think it was from the trip at all… No matter, the apples made it better! And yes, apparently there is a certain kind of wrap you CAN put in the oven… I have done this for making a pâté before but the temp was SO much lower..

Thanks for saving me from ruining my apples with melted plastic! My ramekins were bigger than 6 oz. so I think I should have put more apple in each dish but still it was delicious and the spice combo was different.

I noticed your mat with the Dehillerin logo, did you actually get that at their store. Tricia and I
love that place, we always try to check it out when we go to Paris. Your apples look good
and probably the best thing for your stomach, Hope you feel better soon.

So sorry to hear that you haven’t been well – hope you get back to your old self soon. I skipped the plastic wrap after reading some horror stories and it didn’t seem to make a jot of difference. These apples look delish – they really are simple but fab.

How smart to do only one with plastic and the rest with parchment. My plastic didn’t actually melt, but it made me uncomfortable. I’ll do parchment next time. I topped mine with Greek yogurt as well. I liked the contrast. The granola sounds like a nice garnish as well. I tried slivers of crystallized ginger. So many possibilities for next time! Hope you are feeling better.

Sorry you haven’t been feeling well but even when you’re sick you still take beautiful photos, so at least there’s that. This recipe was really polarizing – so many different outcomes and instructions. I love it! Eating one of these for breakfast sounds amazing and like something I will definitely do when I make them again. Yum!

I dont think they needed pressing per say, but I think we were supposed to stack the apples higher than the ramekins then wrap them into place and putting that extra ramekin on top would have helped to keep them from sliding all around and slipping out of the ramekin,… but that’s all I could figure out.

My version of the book doesnt say to use plastic wrap at all! … but you weren’t the only one with that problem! You wrapped the plastic wrapped ramekin in foil right? … hmmm….

When I saw the dollop of Greek yogurt, I knew this recipe was for me. You’ve certainly been given the short end recently – hopefully it will all have been worth it for (what looked like) an amazing trip – and beautiful teeth!

Oh Mardi- a stomach bug on top of the teeth issues 🙁 So sorry to hear that. I am right in there with you on waiting for my crown and I have rescheduled that dental appt twice since coming down with the flu. The only thing on schedule lately is the French Fridays ! And yes, my wrap melted. It was an adventure indeed but always good to be back in the kitchen. And as Nana noted- we love Dehillerin and now we need to go back to Paris to get one of their Silpats !!! Get better and watch that temp filling ~

Oooh, this apple dish sounds perfectly comforting. We are all battling a cold that just won’t go away, and I am in the mood for some comfort food. I might have to send Darron to the store to pick up some apples. 🙂